I love it,” she tacks on.
Miss Colombia is exactly the al-
bum that Pimienta wanted to make
– as true a real-life representation
of her initial vision as she, Prince
Nifty, and their various collaborators
could realize. Again, much of that
stems from fervently following her
muse with no regard for external
influence – just an artist knowing
exactly what she wants to do and
exactly what she doesn’t.
That
newfound
confidence,
compared to the artist that made
La Papesssa years earlier, can be
partially attributed to learning to re-
cord and produce herself. She didn’t
want to rely on other people to re-
alize her art, and so now, she wields
that power herself.
“When I was writing La Papessa,
I was a single mom living in Toron-
to with a little kid, sharing an apart-
ment with two other roommates, so
I became a student of the YouTube
tutorial academy,” she jokes. “I would
finish my essays [for school], put my
baby to sleep, and then ask the in-
ternet, ‘How do I put my voice in the
computer?’”
She’s taken a similar approach
to virtually every other aspect of her
career, too. From her photography
and music videos to her wardrobe
and live performances, all of which
seamlessly meld the traditional with
a boundary-pushing creative flare,
Pimienta is the mastermind, piecing
everything together with a consis-
tency and cohesion that’s impossible
to ignore.
And even though she’s speaking
with Canadian Musician two months
ahead of Miss Colombia’s formal re-
lease, Pimienta already knows exact-
ly where she’s going with the next
one. “I already have a title and seven
songs,” she boasts, noting her ex-
periences surrounding Miss Colom-
bia have only emboldened her as a
creator and made her vision for the
future that much clearer.
She’s faced her detractors and
critics without flinching, fought off
some sharks in the water, created
internationally-acclaimed art, and
carved out a critically and com-
mercially successful career in the
process. Indeed, Lido Pimienta is a
force to be reckoned with.
Good luck getting that crown off
of Miss Colombia’s head this time…
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief
of Canadian Musician.
CANADIAN MUSICIAN
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